Thoughts off the Glass

Lent ……. Day Twenty-Five

Lent ……. Day Twenty-Five

“How will this ‘story of a little white flower’ come to an end? Perhaps the little flower will be plucked in her youthful freshness or else transplanted to other shores…I am certain that God’s Mercy will accompany her always…” (Story of a Soul, 181-82)St. Therese of Lisieux

Jesus addressed this parable
to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else.
“Two people went up to the temple area to pray;
one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself,
‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity —
greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week,
and I pay tithes on my whole income.’
But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former;
for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The internet has NOT helped any of us in this regard, to be humble. All of us get on Facebook or our own blogs and boast of our great deeds, accomplishments and it provides us a platform to point to those others that are different, like the tax collector. But what can we learn from this? Be humble, we do not need to beat our chests, pop the shirt or shout out that we are above others. God sees us as we are and He knows what we have done. So we pray …

I confess to almighty God
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned,
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,(And striking your breast with your right hand in a fist, you say)
through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;(continue to say)
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.